A rack of the type to which the present invention relates is shown in Licari et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,853. Such a rack provides for the convenient storage of shoes, sandals, sneakers, slippers and similar footwear disposed in general vertical orientation about the periphery of an open box-like skeletal framework which has four corner posts interconnected by two levels of respectively laterally and longitudinally extending cross-members. Each cross-member includes a plurality of hangers axially spaced therealong and comprising upwardly projecting, inverted U-shaped elements onto which the internal toe-receiving portions of the footwear can be placed, to mount the footwear either interiorly or exteriorly of the rack framework.
It is known in such racks to form the hangers associated with a particular cross-member by bending a length of wire or rod (hereafter "wire") into a corrugated succession of U-shaped loops, with alternate loops normally extending vertically upwardly and other connecting loops between the alternate loops normally extending downwardly and having a permanent connection by welding or otherwise to the cross-member. See, e.g., Einhorn U.S. Patent No. 2,815,862 and Atkinson U.S. Pat. No. 2,845,182. It is also known in the context of industrial racks, which are used for transferring shoes from one part of a shoe factory to another, to provide casters on the bases of the corner posts. See, e.g., Parchert U.S. Pat. No. 1,401,356 and Glidden U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,450,948 and 1,703,190.
For non-industrial applications, there has been an emphasis on making racks that are increasingly lightweight and less expensive. The ostensible reason for this is the belief that if racks can be produced at very low cost, their mass marketability through discount retail chains acceptance by home consumers will be improved. As a consequence, cheaper materials and less rugged construction have been employed, with an accompanying sacrifice in sturdiness and durability. Extensive use has been made, for example, of unitary, molded plastics and inexpensive bent wire frames. Also, cheap snap fittings have been used in place of welding and screw/bolt fastenings. The result is that currently available units for the home market are unattractive to consumers because they are readily subject to breakage, bending, warping, and the like.
Conventional racks of the type to which the present invention relates are also deficient in that they tend to take up too much space per shoe. This is especially a problem in the home market where a principal motivation for purchase is the avoidance of clutter and conservation of closet space. Racks such as those shown in the Einhorn '862 and Atkinson '182 patents have low shoe density, with hangers being arranged in parallel laterally extending rows, one row per cross-member, and no provision being made for hanging shoes on longitudinally extending members. Although the Licari et al. '853 arrangement improves on such low shoe density arrangements by permitting shoes to be hung about the whole periphery of the rack, even Licari provides a capability of hanging only one row of shoes on each cross-member. And, while the truncated pyramidal shape of the Licari rack enables nesting for sale display purposes, the inwardly slanted nature of the corner posts prevents stacking of the Licari units corner post base-to-corner post top, one on top of the other, in order to multiply the number of available hanging stations. The industrial designs of the Glidden units provide for two staggered rows of shoes per cross-member, yet the same space conservation motivation for close packing is lacking in the shoe factory environment, so the shoes are arranged in general horizontal, spacing-wasting projecting orientation.